Well, not the most pleasant of days today. But it certainly was a first.

Today, after almost twenty-five years teaching, this was the first time I actually went down. Literally.

Right after lunch, returning to my classroom, I noticed a huge commotion down the hall. That, combined with some screaming quickly made me realize there was a fight in progress (Clever, ain't I?).

So, Here I come to save the day.

I go running towards the crowd and see two girls on the floor trying to mutilate a third. I rush in and pull the main aggressor off and try to restrain her. Here's where the aforementioned "first" comes in.

Instead of calming herself down, or at the very least trying to get away to continue the fight, the girl starts attacking me. She punching me on the head as I'm trying to maneuver her away. Then (here's the other "first"), I go down--banging my knee on the floor. I made sure I took her down with me though. I continued holding on to this girl which was like trying to restrain a wild animal until finally, security arrives and takes her.

The assistant principal shows up (I knew it was him by the brown pants he had on) without even realizing I was there. He looks down, sees me and says, "Tony, are you okay?"

I said, "Uh, no."

He yells into his walkie-talkie for the nurse to come, stat! (he really didn't say "stat" but it makes for a better story, don't you think?)

Anyway, I make it down to the nurses office where I'm sitting with one icepack on my ear, and another on my knee. The right side of my face is all red, and my ear is swollen. I felt like I just did 3 rounds in the ring (actually, I guess that's pretty much what I did).

The nurse insisted I go home, and I did after the police were called, and I filled out an assault report. I went directly to the doctor who checked me out and told me not to go to work tomorrow and to keep icing my ear and knee.

When Life Gives You Lemons
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